Brian Matusz finds his niche as a member of the O’s bullpen

Brian Matusz was supposed to a future star for the Baltimore Orioles. The left-hander was part of a group dubbed “The Cavalry” by former manager Dave Trembly, which also included Jake Arrieta and Chris Tillman that was going solidify the rotation for the years to come.

This, of course, hasn’t quite happened according to plan. Tillman looks to be on his way to living up to the lofty expectations, turning into something resembling the ace of the Orioles’ rotation before our eyes in 2013. After giving Arrieta numerous opportunities to figure things out the team included him in a package to the Chicago Cubs for Scott Feldman a few weeks ago.

As for Matusz, he’s carved out a place for himself as a valuable arm in Buck Showalter’s bullpen. It’s not necessarily what you would expect for the fourth overall pick in the 2008 amateur draft, but it’s a role the 26-year old has become fairly reliable in.

Matusz has started 68 games in his major league career (his last one coming July 1, 2012) and pitched to a 5.51 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 354.2 innings. Overall, opponents knocked him around to tune of a .290/.353/.479 slash line. Never mistaken as an overpowering pitcher, Matusz’s repertoire as a starter included a fastball (47%), sinker (14%), changeup (17%), slider (12%), and curveball (10%).

Reasonably effective early in outings, Matusz often got into trouble as games progressed. During his time as a starter batters hit .317 against him in their third plate appearance of a game and .381 in their fourth. The opposition posted a .282 average on pitches 51-75, .303 from 76-100, and .308 when Matusz crossed the 100 pitch plateau.

A change in duties essentially eliminated those problem areas and both the Orioles and Matusz have benefited from it more often than not.

In 18 games as a reliever in 2012 Matusz held batters to a .114/.170/.182 slash and posted a 1.35 ERA and 0.60 WHIP over 13.1 innings. His respective numbers this year are .216/.279/.309, 3.29, and 1.10 across 38.1 innings (44 games).

His pitch distribution has changed and Brian Matusz now primarily utilizes his fastball and slider, according to Brooks Baseball.

Not surprisingly, Matusz’s velocity is up across the board in 2013 with 92.15 mph representing the highest average for his fastball since 2009. The 86.27 for his slider is tops in his career, by almost 1.5 mph, and its movement has helped generate a swing and miss 21.51% of the time, also a career-best.

With Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, and (presumably) Kevin Gausman in the picture next spring there doesn’t appear to be much room for Brian Matusz to shoehorn his way back into the rotation. Add in the possibility of recent acquisition Scott Feldman returning and chances diminish even more.

In all honesty, it’s probably for the best.

The careers of highly touted prospects don’t always materialize as we expect (and want) them to; that’s just part of sports. To label Brian Matusz a “bust” would largely depend on your definition of the term. Sometimes it’s about finding your niche. While Matusz hasn’t established himself a top-of-the-rotation starter he has settled quite nicely into his new rule and is still an asset to the Orioles. There’s certainly something to be said for that.